Darkfield - KNOT product reviews

When Darkfield first came to New Zealand shores, there was a certain excitement and anticipation set by the unknown. An audio-based adventure, that works by tricking your mind into questioning the body's environment when the eyes are closed. It created a new type of experience, one that was difficult to describe but left a lasting impression. As time has gone by, future episodes have attempted to replicate that initial zeal and wonder, with increasingly complicated narrative structures, playing off on the premise that the other person in the room may not be receiving the same audio that you do.

It has now evolved further, into an all-encompassing 3-part adventure. One event, retrospectively revisited by a number of people in three different locations. An intriguing idea in theory, but one that is difficult to effectively put into practice. With three different audio events (~20 mins, ~25 mins, and ~30 minutes) occurring at one-hour intervals, you will be spending 2.5 hours sitting alone in silence, or waiting half an hour for the next session to begin, as this iteration of Darkfield Radio is a decidedly solo act. The solo act makes it easier for those without partners to participate but means there is nobody to discuss the story with afterward (and while multiple people can do the same adventure at the same time, all individually sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, or alone on a park bench, creates it's own challenges).

Chapter 1 puts forth a repeated situation. Going over an event with someone that is struggling to remember. The repetition adds a variety of different details with each run, with certain background conditions (audio cues) being the only real clue as to the progress of the script. As this is an audio-based adventure, it is best completed with a sleeping mask on (to block out all light) and good (noise-canceling, if available) headphones. Perhaps my headphones weren't the best, but the depth of sound in some of the elements felt off (e.g. the voice of a person talking next to you feels far too close to the ear), yet other elements were spot on (e.g. the cyclist scraping close by through the gravel) and would cause the body to involuntarily flinch as it passes.

Each chapter comes with its own set of brilliant and less effective elements, which creates a variable mood during the experience, as you switch between questioning your safety on a park bench as the sun starts to set, and the knowledge that you are alone but safe and simply listening to audio.

There is a level of convolution to Knot which surpasses all previous episodes. It places you in a situation and repeats in varying ways, in a manner that you can tell is connected, but is not explained until the final chapter. The final chapter, however, is still vague, trying to walk the line between mysterious, and unbelievable. As it all comes together, there is an intriguing idea being put forward, but the execution still leaves too many unexplained elements. There is no satisfying resolution. The synopsis speaks of trauma, but never faces it.

I love the idea of tricking your brain with well-calibrated sounds, and would still recommend people to give Darkfield Radio a try, but one would hope that in future episodes, a narratively compelling story is the first priority.